Hummer crash: Driver to appear soon
2011-11-16 20:33
Pretoria - A 31-year-old man who ran over and killed two motorcyclists with a stolen Hummer will make his first court appearance soon, police said on Wednesday.
Warrant Officer Mathews Nkoadi said the man would face two charges of culpable homicide for the deaths of bikers Johannes Kruger and Pieter Coetzee.
"We may still bring more charges against him," he said.
The case is expected to be heard in the Pretoria North Regional Court on December 12.
Kruger and Coetzee were killed on October 16 2010 when they were struck by the Hummer on Rachel de Beer Road in Pretoria North.
Two motorcycles and the Hummer caught fire. Coetzee and Kruger died at the scene and the 31-year driver had was initially reported to have fled the accident scene.
Coetzee's son, also called Pieter, lost his leg in the accident.
Nkoadi's announcement that the Hummer driver would be prosecuted followed an announcement by the Pretoria Bikers Council (PBC) that they would be staging a protest ride to the accident scene on Saturday.
"The run is in protest of the fact that there is inconsistent application of the law in South Africa, said PBC secretary Marc Laubscher.
"There has been no real progress made in this case after more than a year, even though other cases have already been through the courts and have seen justice being served,"
A petition complaining about the way the police handled the matter was expected to be handed to police in Pretoria North.
Dirk Muller, a biker and a friend of the Coetzee family, said the fact that the case had not been finalised had resulted in financial hardship for the family, because insurances would not pay out.
"Everything is just left hanging in the air. It's very rough and tough on them."
He said Coetzee's son had been forced to sell his motorbike to get a new prosthetic leg.
He said he was hoping as many as 4 000 bikers would attend Saturday's bike ride.
- SAPA